It’s spring! An exciting time of renewal and a perfect season for the re-birth of our blog. This being the first post, I’d like to share a bit about why I am so passionate about helping you create the healthiest, cleanest and safest home possible.

Having been on the Resparkle journey for a year and a half, I’ve come to realize Resparkle is so much more than just a natural cleaning product (that actually works!). It’s about empowering all of us with the ability to decide that we can keep toxic chemicals out of the very place we should feel safe – our home.
We hope this blog will become a great resource that can help you make better everyday consumption choices for your, your family’s and our planet’s health.

To start with, we’ve put together a fun and informative 4 week home detox challenge. More about that later.

So what drives me?

Two things: 1. Improving lives through knowledge. 2. Personal pain

What we don’t know, can hurt us
We live in an era where chemicals are literally everywhere. With several studies linking exposure to household chemicals to the rise of cancer rates, allergies, ADHD, infertility, what we don’t know, can hurt us.

Knowledge is a powerful thing. It helps us make smarter choices, it helps us not get duped by clever marketing and half-truths spun by mega brands.

You might wonder, surely the government or the authorities will not allow products with dangerous chemicals onto supermarket shelves?

The shocking reality is any sort of meaningful regulation is almost non-existent when it comes to cleaning products. In Australia, detergent manufacturers are not required to list the ingredients on their labels. Without full disclosure from brands we’ve grown to trust, we unknowingly submit ourselves and our families to unhealthy exposures to dangerous chemicals.

The lack of regulation, also allows a lot of leeway for sneaky false advertising or what we all know as “greenwashing”. The cleaner under your sink with marketing buzz words on the front label like “Plant-based” “No nasty chemicals” (according to who?!) “Powered by nature” might in fact have harmful chemicals lurking in them. This is one topic that requires more than one post! With our help, you will learn to easily decipher between the true naturals and the greenwashers.

As we focus on detoxing our bodies through clean eating, juice cleanses, and superfoods, are we unknowingly reabsorbing the toxins through our home and work environment? Sounds counter-productive doesn’t it? I’ve personally seen organic cafes serving up green smoothies but have toxic air fresheners and cleaning chemicals in plain view in their toilets. It’s time we address the root of the problem.

Ready for the scary truth?

Toxins, once in our bodies are hard to get rid off
Many of the toxins found in cleaning products are bio-accumulative, meaning the chemicals do not purge easily from the body and over time even mild exposures can add up to toxic levels.
So drinking that green smoothie might not be enough to rid our bodies of the chemical build up.

Cleaning with chemicals may cause more harm than not eating organic
To make matters worse, chemicals absorbed through our skin and lungs are even more dangerous than digesting a non-organic fruit. That is because they go directly into our bloodstream and to our organs where they wreck their havoc. It bypasses our body’s natural defense mechanism against toxins – our digestive system (the liver and kidneys helps filter out toxins)

So again, knowledge is our first crucial step towards healthy homes and clean living. Raising awareness is a huge mission of this blog.

Personal pain
I’m not usually comfortable with turning private pain into a public soap box so I’m going to keep this part relatively short.
First is my recent miscarriage. This is the first time I’m sharing it with anyone outside of my closest family and friends so doing it publicly is pretty huge for me! The fact that it took many years of trying to conceive, made losing our little one even more devastating. Being a year shy of 40, I feel that I’ve missed my chance at motherhood. This is a pain that I’ve trouble processing (still) and with the feeling of guilt and failure incomprehensible.
Second is losing a friend (my age) to breast cancer. Her heartbreaking story shook me to the core. Like me, she tried so hard at conceiving and finally blessed with 3 boys. Just a couple of months after the birth of her twin boys in her second pregnancy, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Barely a year later she lost that battle leaving the young boys without a mother.

What does these have to do with cleaning?
A LOT!
The fact that women are very often care-takers of our homes, we’re exposed to dangerous household chemicals routinely, making us and our young children the most vulnerable. According to environmental experts, the average household contains about 62 toxic chemicals some linked to asthma, cancer, reproductive disorders, hormone disruption and neurotoxicity.
Manufacturers argue that we don’t have to worry as they are in too small amounts to cause any harm. I’d love to ask them how often would they recommend we clean our homes. Once in a blue moon perhaps?
The reality is we are exposed to these toxic chemicals routinely, and in combinations that haven’t been studied.
Rebecca Sutton, PhD, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), explains ““Our concern is daily, weekly, chronic exposure over a lifetime. Maybe if you’re exposed to a chemical a handful of times it wouldn’t cause harm, but some chemicals build up enough or cause enough harm in your body over time that it triggers some kind of disease outcome. The concept [of body burden] is that pollution is not just in our air and in our water — it’s also in us.”

Fibroids (a suspect cause of my miscarriage), cancer tumors typically grow in response to irritation and inflammation possibly caused by environmental toxins.
While neither me nor my friend nor all who are battling cancer and reproductive issues can pin point exactly cleaning chemicals as the culprit to our condition, but the thought that it could have been is enough to piss me off. It makes me mad that manufacturers have allowed us to unknowingly invite these nasties into our homes. Just like you won’t want a thief in your home, there’s absolutely no reason why we should tolerate having these silent chemicals slowly rob us of our health.

Please don’t feel overwhelmed by all I’ve shared. As scary as it might sound, tackling these issues is actually pretty easy and we’re here to break it down and help you.
As mentioned, we’ve created a 4 week spring detox your home challenge and we promise you, we’re all gonna have fun with it!

Join us for a 4-week home detox spring challenge

Over the next 4 weeks, every Sunday, you will receive tips and easy to do tasks from us and experts in their fields.

We will take you through 4 main areas in your home which we feel are important:
(1) Week 1: Spring clean your fridge
(2) Week 2: Detox your bathroom
(3) Week 3: How to keep home safe for your children & your fur-kids
(4) Week 4: What are you sleeping with? Tips on how to keep your bedroom clean for healthy rest.

This isn’t about turning you into a clean freak or a domestic goddess but about empowering you with knowledge where the hidden nasties are, so YOU can decide how to care for your home and ultimately your health.

The reward
A sparkling clean and healthy home of course!
And if that’s not enough to get you motivated, we’ve put together some seriously amazing prizes:The Grand Finale Prize:

The Weekly Prize:
4 huge hampers filled to the brim with all natural awesomeness to be given away each week.

What do you have to do?

(1) Subscribe to our blog to receive our weekly tips and challenge (link on the right of page)

My sister-in-law has a rare form of aggressive lung cancer, most likely caused by chemical or toxic exposure. It was she who got me onto chemical free cleaning with Enjo over 10 years ago, so the exact cause will never be explained. This is why I am all for promoting awareness of how chemicals in the home can be affecting our health and am also encouraging chemical free cleaning.